By Barnes Mawrie
The Christmas celebration of 2020 will be remembered as a Covid Christmas. The second wave of Covid 19 which is sweeping Europe currently has left Christians disappointed as they are unable to have the usual fanfare associated with the feast. European countries have already declared a second lockdown. This pandemic has had its toll on every aspect of our life from politics to economy, from entertainment to leisure time, from the religious to the cultural life of people all over the world. However amidst this gloomy picture, there are silver linings to this tragedy. First of all, a realization that Christmas is not all about Santa Clause and Christmas tree. Commercialization of Christmas has been adversely affected by the pandemic and this should be viewed by believers as a blessing rather than a misfortune.
Degeneration of the significance of Christmas has been witnessed all these years where we see this event being associated with mundane things like Christmas trees, Santa Clauses, cakes, gifts, concerts, parties and dinners. The true meaning of Christmas which is the birth of Christ has been limited to some liturgical services. This year Christians are compelled to reflect on the true message of Christmas, namely, that it is about the birth of our saviour, Jesus Christ. Secondly, Covid Christmas is a blessing in disguise for the poor and have-nots because it has cut down festive expenses by more than 50%. This pandemic has become a sort of leveller between the rich and the poor.
What would be the Christmas message in this year of pandemic? This would be the question in the minds of many people. I would like to offer a few reflections along these lines: This Covid Christmas has taught humanity a vital lesson about our human limitations. Man who thought that he is a demi-god and that he has solutions to every problem, has shamefully realized that he is limited in many ways. Man who has been able to probe the depth of the oceans, explore the space and build artificial intelligence (AI), is unable to control even this little virus and as a consequence humanity continues to suffer day after day. Humanity has been taught a lesson of humility, that God is still the master of our lives and he could confound us even with a little sickness. Even developed countries are realizing their limitations as their hospitals are unable to cope with the number of increasing patients and they are running short of ICUs and ventilators. Being unable to hold the usual Christmas revelries which are often spending on trivialities, family members would spend more time together this Christmas time. One can expect more time would be spent in prayer this Christmas than in other years and more time would be spent on purposeful things than on meaningless revelries.
COVID as I would put it Christ Our Victor Is Divine should sound as good news to all Christians. Christ’s advent as prophesied by all the prophets was perceived as the arrival of the Messiah, the King of peace who would set everything right. He is the Son of God who has everything under his control. He is the final victor of the power of darkness and sin. Christmas is about God becoming man, assuming our human form. He has become the Emmanuel (God with us) and so it should remind us that as human beings, we are not alone in the fight against diseases and pandemics. Christ who assumed our humanity has himself gone through the experiences of sickness, suffering and death. Consequently he understands and empathizes with the suffering humanity.
Christmas during this pandemic has an additional significance for all believers. It brings us a message of hope and optimism. Rabindranath Tagore once said “every child born into this world brings the message to us that God still loves the world.” If this is true for an ordinary child, how much more the birth of Christ, the divine child, would mean for humanity. It is a clear message that humanity is still the predilection of God and that he would neither abandon us nor let us be doomed. Christian faith teaches us to be resilient in times of trials and perseverance will ultimately bring us victory. Happy Christmas to one and all!